2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 72

Unit 72

Sal Monella is a poisonous gangster hell bent on infection, and a pimple is a power-mad oil gland. That’s life—and a quirky twist on salmonella and acne—in the animated world of Ozzy & Drix, part of the WB network’s Saturday-morning lineup. This was the first season for what might be called a “smartoon.” It was in the top programs among kids ages 2 to 11. And it’s coming back this fall.

Instead of battling mystical monsters, Ozzy & Drix cleverly personifies body parts—a muscle cell is a police chief—to teach kids about their bodies. Rather than lecture kids about smoking, Ozzy & Drix turns nicotine into Nick O’Teen, a smarmy villain with long claws that hook into brains and cause addictions. Bad guys like Nick are taken down by the title stars: Osmosis “Ozzy” Jones, a street-smart white blood cell, and Drix, an uptight but intelligent cold pill with a chest full of medicine. White blood cells help fight infection, and Drix is a medicine chest. Get it?

Ozzy & Drix makes a point of tackling “issues that are very real to the day-to-day lives of kids,” says David Foster, a Harvard University internist who helps develop story lines for the show. “We hope they take an interest in what is going on inside them.” That’s why all the action occurs within 13-year-old Hector, who contracts diseases, encounters peer pressure, and even drinks spoiled milk. “This poor kid has been through a lot,” says Producer Alan Burnett.

Pun fun. The slap-your-knee, ba-dum-dum humor takes many forms. Ozzy and Drix set up a detective firm behind Hector’s cornea—they’re “private eyes”—to ensure him a safe adolescence. Blood cells race like cars through Hector’s arteries and past a “roadside” billboard reading “Peace for the Middle Ear.” There’s a rock concert at the Diaphragm Club featuring the band Metabolica. Ozzy and Drix drive a Cel Camino.

“This is a very interesting direction for broadcasters to take,” says Sandra Calvert, a psychologist and director of the Children’s Digital Media Center at Georgetown University. “We rarely see someone go after the health area.” Kids go for the slapstick and drama while adults are drawn to the puns and parodies, and the dual enjoyment sparks questions and conversation, she says.

Consider an upcoming episode in which Hector eats bad sausage containing parasitic worms. A spoof of jaws begins as his stomach becomes a sea of acid dotted with boats. On one, Ozzy teams up with grizzled Captain Quinine—recalling movie shark hunter Quint and the fact that quinine was once used to treat parasites. Ozzy and the Cap’n blow up the monsters with bicarbonate of soda. A soothing end, not for the worms, but for Hector’s upset stomach.

注（1）：本文選自U. S. News & World Report；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象為2002年真題Text 4和Text 2第5題。

1. From the first three paragraphs, we learn that ______.

A) Ozzy & Drix is a cartoon about a good guy fighting a bad guy.

B) the target audience of Ozzy & Drix are children

C) smartoon is a new type of cartoon

D) the purpose of Ozzy & Drix is to help children fight against diseases

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?

A) Ozzy in the cartoon lacks experiences.

B) Hector’s friends show sympathy to him when he contracts disease.

C) A new season of Ozzy & Drix will be on show this fall.

D) Ozzy & Drix mainly deals with battling frightening creatures.

3. According to Sandra Calvert, broadcasters may learn from Ozzy & Drix ______.

A) how to create humorous effect

B) that health area is worth exploring

C) that dual enjoyment of both kids and adults is the key to Ozzy & Drix’s success

D) that kids and adults alike take great fun in Ozzy & Drix

4. Which of the following best defines the word “slapstick”（Line 3, Paragraph 5）?

A) Humorous acting.

B) Serious theme.

C) Interesting plot.

D) Instructive stories.

5. The author uses the episode in which Hector eats bad sausage containing parasitic worms to show ______.

A) how the cartoon is plotted

B) how children feel when they fall ill

C) the pun and humor in the cartoon

D) the way children can be educated

篇章剖析

本篇是一篇說明文，通過點(diǎn)面結(jié)合來說明一檔熱門電視系列劇《奧茲和德里克斯》的內(nèi)容、特點(diǎn)和吸引人之處等。第一段是對《奧茲和德里克斯》的簡要介紹，突出了其“出奇”和“熱門”兩大特色；第二段和第三段說明了這個電視劇的主要內(nèi)容，即以賦予身體各部分人性化的特點(diǎn)幫助孩子們了解自己的身體以及發(fā)生在日常生活中的問題；第四段和第五段介紹了該劇輕松幽默和老少咸宜的特點(diǎn)；第六段以一段劇情結(jié)束全文，讓人更加深刻地體會這部劇作。

詞匯注釋

pimple /?p?mp(?)l/ n. 丘疹，面泡，疙瘩

gland /gl?nd/ n. 腺

quirky /?kw??ki / adj. 詭詐的，離奇的

salmonella /s?lm??nel?/ n. 沙門氏菌

acne /??kni/ n. 痤瘡，粉刺

lineup /?la?n?p/ n. 系列節(jié)目

personify /p???s?n?fa?/ vt. 賦予…以人性，使人格化

nicotine /?n?k?ti?n/ n. 煙堿，尼古丁

smarmy /?smɑ?mi/ adj. 令人厭煩的，愛說奉承話的，虛情假意的

osmosis /?z?m??s?s,?s-/ n. 滲透（作用），滲透性

street-smart /?stri?t?smɑ?t/ adj. 經(jīng)驗(yàn)老到的

uptight /??pta?t,?p?ta?t/ adj. 過分拘謹(jǐn)?shù)?；（行為、觀點(diǎn)或品味）極端保守的

internist /??nt??n?st/ n. 〈美〉 內(nèi)科醫(yī)師

contract /k?n?tr?kt/ v. 感染

cornea /?k??n??/ n. 【醫(yī)】角膜

artery /?ɑ?t?ri/ n. 【解】動脈

slapstick /?sl?pst?k/ n. 鬧??；滑稽劇

parody /?p?r?di/ n. 模仿滑稽作品

spoof /spu?f/ n. 胡說；戲弄；哄騙

grizzled /?gr?zld/ adj. 灰色的，頭發(fā)斑白的

難句突破

Rather than lecture kids about smoking, Ozzy & Drix turns nicotine into Nick O’Teen, a smarmy villain with long claws that hook into brains and cause addictions.

主體句式：Ozzy & Drix turns nicotine into Nick O’Teen.

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這是一個復(fù)雜句，主句為Ozzy & Drix turns nicotine into Nick O’Teen，Nick O’Teen后面有個較長的同位語，其中還含有定語從句。Rather than作為連接詞引導(dǎo)從句，通常表示否定意義，意為“而不是”，用于和另外一種可以肯定的情況做比較。比如，Rather than sit in a cozy room, he works out in the cold air. 他沒有在舒適的房間里安坐，而是冒著嚴(yán)寒在室外工作。

句子譯文：對于吸煙，《奧茲和德里克斯》也沒有采用對孩子們說教的方式，而是把尼古丁變成了一個名叫尼克·丁的口蜜腹劍的惡棍，它長著長長的爪子，并用它來鉤住人的大腦，使人上癮。

題目分析

1. B 推理題。文中第一段最后說這部卡通片“深受2~11歲孩子的歡迎”。第二段說要通過卡通片教孩子們認(rèn)識自己的身體，第三段講卡通片涉及的是孩子們?nèi)粘Ｉ钪忻媾R的實(shí)際問題。由此可見，答案為B：卡通片的目標(biāo)人群為兒童。C項(xiàng)中的smartoon只是用來說明該卡通構(gòu)思巧妙，而并不是新型卡通。

2. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。從文章第一段末it’s coming back this fall可知新一季的Ozzy & Drix即將在秋季上映。文中第二段提到Ozzy是street-smart，這個詞的意思是“閱歷豐富的，經(jīng)驗(yàn)老到的”，選項(xiàng)A不對。文中第三段提到Hector患病后遭遇了peer pressure，即同伴的壓力，可見同伴們都不喜歡患病的他，選項(xiàng)B不對。第二段特意提到了instead of battling mystical monsters，也就是說這部卡通一改和怪物斗爭的模式，選項(xiàng)D不對。所以只有答案C正確。

3. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第五段一開頭就引用Sandra Calvert的話說，這是廣播公司可以發(fā)展的一個非常有趣的方向，接著又說，以前很少見到涉足保健領(lǐng)域的話題。可見，她的意思是廣播公司在保健領(lǐng)域大有可為。

4. A 語義題。文章第四段開頭說“The slap-your-knee, ba-dum-dum humor takes many forms.”接下來舉例說明，并在第五段說孩子們喜歡這種slapstick，根據(jù)上下文判斷，“幽默的表演”應(yīng)該是最佳選項(xiàng)。

5. C 推理題。從第三段可知雙關(guān)和幽默是該劇最大的特點(diǎn)，在最后一段的劇情里，作者說奎寧船長的名字讓人想起獵鯊專家奎恩特以及奎寧曾用于治療寄生蟲病的事情，可見作者是以此舉例說明這部卡通劇作的雙關(guān)和幽默。

參考譯文

沙門氏是一伙惡毒的、會傳染疾病的壞蛋，而粉刺則是一個迷戀權(quán)利的油脂腺。這就是《奧茲和德里克斯》這檔華納電視網(wǎng)周六早晨系列節(jié)目中展現(xiàn)的生活——而且是對于沙門氏菌和粉刺最離奇的一次改編。而這僅是這部堪稱“聰明卡通”的系列片的第一季。在2至11歲的孩子中，它是最受歡迎的一檔節(jié)目。第二季將在今年秋季上映。

《奧茲和德里克斯》中并沒有和神秘怪獸做斗爭的內(nèi)容，而是將人體的某些部位賦予了人性化的特征——一個肌肉細(xì)胞擔(dān)任了警察局長——目的是教孩子們了解自己的身體。對于吸煙，《奧茲和德里克斯》也沒有采用對孩子們說教的方式，而是把尼古丁變成了一個名叫尼克·丁的口蜜腹劍的惡棍，它長著長長的爪子，并用它來鉤住人的大腦，使人上癮。像尼克這樣的壞蛋都被卡通片里的明星們制服了：善于滲透的奧茲瓊斯是一個經(jīng)驗(yàn)老到的白血球；拘謹(jǐn)聰明的德里克斯則是一粒肚子里裝滿藥的感冒藥丸。白血球們幫助抗擊感染，而德里克斯則是個藥箱子。這下明白了吧？

《奧茲和德里克斯》涉及的都是“孩子們?nèi)粘Ｉ钪忻鎸Φ恼鎸?shí)問題”，參與該電視劇劇情編寫的哈佛大學(xué)內(nèi)科醫(yī)生大衛(wèi)·福斯特說道?！拔覀兿Ｍ⒆觽儗Πl(fā)生在自己體內(nèi)的事情感興趣?！彼运械墓适露及l(fā)生在13歲的赫克托體內(nèi)。這個孩子染病在身，感受到了來自同伴的壓力，甚至還喝下了變質(zhì)的牛奶?！斑@個可憐的小家伙受了不少罪，”制片人艾倫·伯內(nèi)特說道。

片中的雙關(guān)語非常有趣。拍膝蓋、打拍子這一類的幽默都通過很多形式表現(xiàn)出來。奧茲和德里克斯在赫克托的角膜后面成立了一家偵探事務(wù)所——他們是“私人的眼睛”——為的是確保他安全度過青春期。血細(xì)胞經(jīng)過赫克托的動脈時好像汽車一樣飛馳而過，經(jīng)過一個“路邊”廣告牌，上面寫著“中耳需要安寧”?！皺M膈膜俱樂部”正在舉辦一場“新陳代謝樂隊(duì)”的專場搖滾音樂會。奧茲和德里克斯開的是一輛卡米諾牌細(xì)胞汽車。

“對于廣播公司來說，這是一種非常有趣的發(fā)展方向，”喬治敦大學(xué)兒童數(shù)字媒體中心主任，心理學(xué)家桑德拉·卡爾弗特說道。“我們很少見到有人在健康領(lǐng)域做文章?！焙⒆觽兿矚g有趣刺激的情節(jié)，而大人們也被片中的雙關(guān)語和滑稽的模仿所吸引，這種老少皆宜的片子能引發(fā)思考和討論。

以接下來的一幕中赫克托爾吃了含有寄生蟲的變質(zhì)香腸為例。危險的情況以一種輕松搞笑的方式被演繹了出來。他的胃變成一片酸性物質(zhì)的海洋，上面漂著幾葉扁舟。其中一艘小船上坐著奧茲和頭發(fā)花白的奎寧船長，他們同舟共濟(jì)——這讓人想起了電影中的獵鯊專家奎恩特，以及奎寧曾被用來對付寄生蟲的事。奧茲和船長用碳酸水中的重碳酸鹽把那些怪物統(tǒng)統(tǒng)炸死了。對蟲子們來說，這是滅頂之災(zāi)，但對赫克托爾翻江倒海的胃來說，結(jié)局令人寬慰。